NZ goldfish survive 134 days without food after quake

Yeah we did the weed thing, but then after a couple of months we had to make some hard choices about who might be the tastiest. It was kind of like Survivor but without the surviving so to speak.

Two goldfish have survived 134 days without food following the Christchurch earthquake in February.

The two goldfish, named Shaggy and Daphne after characters from the animated television show Scooby Doo, have become the smallest and hardiest survivors of the devastating February earthquake in Christchurch that killed 181 people.

The fish spent four and a half months – 134 days – trapped in their tank in the city’s off-limits downtown ‘redzone’ without anyone to feed them or electricity to power their tank filter before they were discovered this month and rescued.

“It’s certainly an incredible story. I wouldn’t have guessed that fish could survive on their own for four months,” said Paul Clarkson, curator at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. “Goldfish are very hardy critters.”

Luckily for the fish, they lived in a large 100-liter tank. They had weed to munch through. And, according to Clarkson, the fish may have gleaned some nutrition from eating algae growing on the tank’s rocks and walls.

He said naturally growing bacteria may have helped keep the water clean enough to sustain life.

The story takes a darker twist here because originally there were six goldfishin the tank when the earthquake struck. One was found floating but two have disappeared altogether. Grave fears are held for their safety. Goldfish are apparently omnivres.

The fish had been on display in the reception area of Quantum Chartered Accountants in Christchurch’s High Street. Company director Vicky Thornley said she was about to step into the elevator when the quake hit and she grabbed onto the wooden tank surround, both to steady herself and stop the tank from falling.

“I was clinging on for dear life,” she said. Some of the water slopped over her.

She and her three co-workers made it out of the building as masonry and bricks crashed through a skylight. Thornley’s first thoughts were for the safety of her 5-year-old son, Joshua, who was unharmed.

It wasn’t until July 6 that authorities finally allowed her back into the office, escorting her for an hour to collect belongings. Her office was in a particularly hard-hit part of the inner-city.

Thornley said she didn’t want to look in the direction of the tank because she was sure the fish would be long dead. But then an earthquake-recovery worker shouted to her: “Hey, there are fish here, and they’re alive!”